Florida Volleyball Holds 2010 Team Banquet
Monday, January 10, 2011 | Volleyball
Reflecting on the achievements and accomplishments of one of the finest seasons in program history, the University of Florida volleyball team on Sunday evening hosted its annual banquet at the Don and Irene Dizney Gator Room in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The event, hosted by the Gator Attack Club, was attended by friends, family and fans of the Florida volleyball program, which finished with a 29-2 overall record in 2010 and claimed the program's 19th Southeastern Conference title. The Gators advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals for the 19th time in the last 20 years and extended the nation's longest streak of consecutive 25-win seasons to 20.
The event, which was emceed by Tom Collett, the radio voice of the Florida volleyball team, began with a social and photo slide show of the season, featuring the work of photographer Jim Burgess. Gator Attack Club president John Richter and president-elect Paul McLaughlin, along with other club members, assisted with the presentation of the awards.
Dinner was served and then a number of awards in several categories were presented to the Florida volleyball players. The awards and their recipients are as follows, in the order they were presented:
· Academic Award – Betsy Smith
· Gator Power Award (strength & conditioning) – Kristy Jaeckel and Elissa Hausmann
· Blocking Award – Cassandra Anderson
· Claire Roach Defensive Award – Erin Fleming
· Serving Award – Kristy Jaeckel
· Hitting Percentage Award – Lauren Bledsoe
· Passing Award – Erin Fleming
· Assists Award – Chanel Brown and Kelly Murphy
· Kills Award – Kelly Murphy
· Gator Spirit Award – Erin Fleming
· Janet Garrett Award – Kelley Kish, former Coordinator of Volleyball Operations
The 2010 senior class, as is tradition, addressed the crowd. Senior libero Erin Fleming (Orlando, Fla.) was the only one of the three seniors to give her speech in person. Fellow seniors Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.) and Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) are playing professionally in Finland and Puerto Rico, respectively, and had teammates read their senior speeches.
A special new award was introduced honoring the late Janet Garrett, a devoted and passionate fan and Gator Attack Club member who, for years, attended nearly every home match and many away matches with a smile and encouragement for each of the team's athletes, before passing away in December 2010. The inaugural recipient of the Janet Garrett Award was Kelley Kish, the program's former longtime Coordinator of Volleyball Operations, who served the program loyally and tirelessly for nine seasons from 2001-09.
Head coach Mary Wise addressed the crowd with a look back on the 2010 campaign and a season highlight video was shown. Wise closed the evening with a look ahead to the bright future of Florida volleyball.
For all of the latest information on Florida volleyball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/volleyball. Follow Florida Volleyball on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorMary.
